"The Hour of the Star" - Clarice Lispector
Hi everyone, this week I read “The Hour of the Star”. From the title, I was expecting a nice book with something to do with the repeating hours of night when the stars appear. In fact, this title is about becoming a ‘star’ at one’s hour of death, a singular and short-lived moment.
Macabéa as a character was fascinating in that she was a young girl who seemed mostly content with her tough life. She cannot even afford to buy pasta and works a job where she could be fired at any moment. While not a stereotypical main character trait to not actively fight to the bad conditions she was in, I thought her stance on life was quite realistic. The line “And even sadness was also something for rich people…. sadness was a luxury” (53) left the largest impression on me. Macabéa did what she could to enjoy small pleasures like drinking coca-cola and “partying” after a breakup by buying lipstick to look like Marilyn Monrore. Although the narrator insults people who like coca-cola, her enjoyment in things that were popular humanized her in an endearing way. While she may not have the luxury of sadness, she could at least have the luxury of partaking in some popular activities and I was annoyed at the narrator making fun of that.
I see some similarities between Macabéa and Natalia from last week’s “The Time of the Doves”. Particularly, with how Macabéa is nameless for the first part of the book because the male narrator cannot think of one. Macabéa’s whole identity and life is controlled by a man who gives her terribly unfair treatment and then continues on with his own life; sounds like a certain man whose name starts with a Q. Natalia’s name was also taken from her by a man and was only recognized by her true name later by her second husband. Unfortunately, Macabéa never finds true love like Natalia does but the one time she is complimented on her name is by Madame Carlota who says it is “very pretty” (63). Madame Carlota did not love Macabéa but telling her fortune gave her hope and a new outlook on life which is a little like what Natalia’s second husband did.. although unfortunately again, it did not last long for Macabéa.
Slightly off topic but I have to mention the use of (explosion) in this book. Admittedly, I found it humorous because every time I came across it I would imagine the vine boom sound effect- though I’m not sure if being funny was the author’s intention.
My question is what are your thoughts on the line “sadness was a luxury”? Do you think this is true?
Hi Arissa, I enjoyed reading your post. I think there is definitely some truth to the line "sadness was a luxury". When people are struggling to meet their basic needs they don't have as much time to think about whether they are happy or sad, and like in Macabéa's case they just sort of exist.
ReplyDelete'I see some similarities between Macabéa and Natalia from last week’s “The Time of the Doves”.'
ReplyDeleteYes, I was going to bring this up as a topic in class yesterday, but it turned out that you all had a lot to say on your own! :) But I think I did hint that in some ways it's only a small accident of fate that Natalia doesn't have a similarly dismal end to Macabéa's. And one could perhaps imagine a "happy" ending in The Hour of the Star.
Hi Arissa! I agree with your statement that Macabea reminded you of Natalia and I think that sadness being a luxury also reminds me of how Natalia had so much pent up emotion that she never had time to process. Similar to what Rowan said above, I think that Macabea feels any emotion or her future are luxuries because considering she doesn’t even have much time to care for herself or her esteem, she probably doesn’t feel it’s worth the time (or she doesn’t have the time) to think about how she feels.
ReplyDeleteHi Arissa, To answer your question, I don't think sadness is a luxury for everyone but perhaps yes to some people. I interpreted in a way where in a situation of poverty, for everything that you do have you should feel grateful and sadness really comes from focusing on what you've lost. In this case, there is no time or really emotional availability to feel sad if there are bigger things that your life depends on to continue going. So to this extent, sadness was a luxury, someone only maybe rich people (who had no other worries) had time for. To sit and cry, be sad, is when you can spare time for other things other than necessities.
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